UPCOMING EVENTS

Good overview today by Merc reporter Dean Takahashi of the anniversary of Moore’s Law, and how the law is still alive and well — driving growth in Silicon Valley. Dean takes a conservative view, citing experts who believe the law will die sometime within the next 15 years: By most accounts, Moore’s Law will collide with the laws of physics sometime in the next 15 years. That’s when it will become physically impossible to squeeze more transistors onto a single chip. To keep Moore’s Law alive, scientists and engineers are working to develop new technologies to enhance or replace silicon chips. See Dean’s separate piece here, for the tech details. There are some, including Vinod Dham, so-called “father of the pentium” who believe a lack of investment by Intel and others has already crushed Moore’s Law. Though, as Dean says, many past predictions of the law’s demise have been proven wrong.